uncanny valley

American  

[uhn-kan-ee val-ee] / ʌnˈkæn i ˈvæl i /

noun

1. 1. a psychological concept that describes the feelings of unease or revulsion that people tend to have toward artificial representations of human beings, as robots or computer animations, that closely imitate many but not all the features and behaviors of actual human beings.

   2. the dip in positive feelings toward such artificial representations.

---

Etymology

Origin of uncanny valley

1970; coined by Masahiro Mori, Japanese roboticist (born 1927), from Japanese bukimi no tani (genshō) “uncanny valley (phenomenon)”

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

uncanny valley

They can be technically proficient, maybe even a little funny, but there is always an underlying cadence of the uncanny valley that I still doubt Suno v6 pro et al. or whatever has totally overcome.

From Salon ● Oct. 4, 2026

“We were very intentional about the uncanny valley nature of this, so we made it intentionally abstract,” Dema says.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 12, 2026

The uncanny valley is live for consumption, for free, at No. 300 on the Roku Channel’s Live TV Guide.

From Slate ● Aug. 16, 2026

But the movie doesn’t closely enough resemble the heart-and-soul complexity of life itself, falling into an uncanny valley in which the drama is decidedly artificial.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026

Individuals further reported an "uncanny valley" response -- a sense of unease when made aware that the empathetic response originated from AI, highlighting the complex emotional landscape navigated by AI-human interactions.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 11, 2024

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---